Key-carrying device



Feb. 15, 1944. NE 2,342,078

- KEY-CARRYING DEVICE Filed April 9, 1940 .INVENTOR'. WALTER LdoNcs,

BY W (BAA; ATTY. I

Patented Feb. 15, 1944 tlNiTE-D spares m o FFl' CE I Yamao'zsKEXFCARRYING DEVICE "Walter I. Jones, Belmont, Mass, assignorto'Un'ited-Carr Fastener Corporation, Cambridge,

Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts Application April 9, 1940,'Scrial'No. 328,728 6 Claims. (Cl. til- 456) My invention aims toprovide improvements in key-carrying devices such as are commonly calledkey cases and which include an outer casing of leather or the likewithin which is located one or more elements for carrying lock keys andany other suitable devices.

Reference is hereby made to my'divisional application Serial No.476,021, filedFebruary '15, 1943.

In the drawing which illustrates a preferred embodiment of my invention:

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of a conventional three-hook casewith a portion thereof brok'en'away to show a part of the'key-supportingmeans in elevation;

Fig. 2 is a front elevational view of the hardware of the key caseinvarious stages of assembly of the parts;

Fig. 3 is a View showing a partial portion of the supporting plate, asection of one of the 'keyholder supporting members and a key-holdersqueezed to a position for assembly with or olisassembly from thekey-holder su orting member; 4

Fig. 4 is an enlarged side elevation of my improved key-holder in'normalposition;

Fig. 5 is an edge View of the key-holder shown in Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged perspective view of the key-holder supportingmember per se; Fig. 7 is a an enlarged section taken on the line l -"lof Fig. '2 showing the key-holder supporting member in the'po'sition ofbeingsnapped through an aperture in the plate;

Fig. 8 is a section on the line '|-l of Fig. 2 showing the parts infinal assembly;

Fig. 9 is a plan View of thebla'nk from which the key-holder supportingmember is made; and

Fig. 10 is a plan view of the blankwith a'portion broken away,from'which the key-holder is formed.

My invention relates to that type of key "container device which is soconstructed that the key-holder together with any key,keys' or otherdevices carried thereby 'may be'remo'ved from the part that supports thekey-holder. Appli cant is aware of the fact that such devices are notbroadly new but he believes that his i'mproved construction is much moresimple to operate and less expensive in construction, with other decidedadvantages hereinafter to "be described, and that he has made a distinctpatentable advance in this particularart.

7 Referring to the specific form of my invention, I have shown astandard type 'of key case cbifer with g the plate.

I of the folded over fia'pconstruction held together by a snap fastener2 of'anyj'suitable construction. The case [may be of leather, cloth orany suitable material. Within 'the ca s'eand preferably at the" upperportionthei'eof' I have attached a plate'member 3 as by means of "rivetsi substantially as indicated'in Fig. 1. This plate member .3 maybeprovided with any numberbf apertures 5 preferably surroundedby bos'ses6, these bosses extending-toward the"front face of the plate as shown inFigs. 2 and "7. Thus far what I have described is old,'but' from thispoint on I believe, my invention is new.

It has been the usual custom to provide a'k'eyholder supportingmemberextending through an aperture 5 in the plate 3 in swivelengagement The construction of my'keyholder supporting member I and themethod of assembling it with the plate 3 is new so far as I am aware.As-illustrated in Figs. 6, '7, 8 and 9,

my key-holder supporting member I is formed from sheet metal blankedout;as shown in Fig. 9,

to provide a generally circular base portion 8 anda long tongue 9connected to an inner circle of the base and formed to provide a loopIII and a foot portion H. Thefoot portion It more or less completes thering-like base as shown in Fig. 6, and the loop portion. l0 is madesubstam tially in the form of a stud-headso that it can Since thekey-holder supporting member is formed from spring metal the loopportion is .yieldable, particularly since the foot I I may move inwardlyand outwardly 'quite "freely. This construction of key-holder supportingmember has the advantage of being lightystrong, very easy to assemblewith the plate, and therefore inexpensive, and provides'a very smoothswivel-action relative to the 'pl'a-te '3.

My key-holder i2 is'of improved construction I and. is formed from asingleipie'ee of sheet spring metal. It is preferably formed fro'mribbon stock and the blanks are punched out-substantially as shown inFig. 10in such ama'nnera's to leave a forked portion atoneeHd and-atGrigue at-the "Othl"6nd. thetngile cming lllit df the next forkedportion. The blank shown in Fig. 10 is bent at the mid-portion to form aloop l3 for one or more keys or the like and the ends are bent towardeach other so as to cross as at I4 (Fig. 4) and finally the end portionsare formed into hooks one of which I will describe as a forked hook l5and the other as a single hook l6. These hooks cooperate in such a waythat they form an eye I! to receive the loop of the key-holdersupporting member I. My primary purpose is to provide a key-holderhaving two hook-shaped portions which may be moved relative to eachother preferably by manipulation of the loop [3 so that the key-holdermay be easily and quickly engaged with or disengaged from the key-holdersupporting member. In the specific construction that I have illustratedwherein portions of the key-holder are crossed it is merely necessary tosqueeze the loop portion 13 thus forcing the hooks l and Hi to assumepositions as illustrated in Fig. 3. This will permit the loop ll! of thekey-holder supporting member to pass between the ends of the hooks asillustrated and when the squeezing pressure is released the hooks willpass through the loop Ill and form an eye II in swivel engagement withthe loop H], as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Thus the key-holder may swingrelative to the loop Ill and the loop [0 may turn in the aperture 5relative to the plate 3 so that when a key carried by a key-holder isgrasped it may be presented to the key-hole in a lock without it or thehardware of the case becoming tangled.

The crossing of portions of the key-holder, as well as the provision ofthe forked hook i5, is important. In the first place, if the crossedportion I4 is not provided on a key-holder of substantially applicantsconstruction the holder may become inverted on the loop H] of thekey-holder supporting member i. This crossed portion together with theforked formation of one of the hooks prevents such inverted relation dueto the fact that a complete eye i1 is formed with no opportunity for theloop Hi to enter the loop I3. Another important advantage is theinterlocking feature which takes place between the forked hook l5 andthe single hook l6 as shown in Fig. 5. This interlocking prevents anyappreciable movement of the hook members fl'atwise relative to eachother thus preventing the key-holder from becoming accidentallyunfastened by any twisting action that may take place between the hooksl5 and I6 and the loop ID when a key on the keyholder is beingmanipulated relative to a look. If this interlocking is not provided itis possible for a twisting action to spread the hooks fiatwisesufficiently to permit the loop It] to slip out between them.

So far I have explained the advantages of my simple construction withrespect to assembly, etc. It should also be noted that it is a very easymatter "to assemble and disassemble a key relative to a key-holder. Itis only necessary to spread may be inserted through the usual hole in akey and while the hooks are spread apart the key may pass down onto theloop I3. To disassemble the key from the key-holder it is merelynecessary to hold the loop 13 in one hand and pull straight out .on theend of the key with the other hand. During this action the key willautomatically spread the hooks and it will become disassembled. An-

.--other and very simple way of assembling the key is to hold the loopportion l3 between the thumb and fore-finger of .one hand and then withthe key held in the other hand the end thereof near the hole in the keyis pressed upon the back of one of the hooks of the forked hook l5 whilethe hook I6 is lifted thus spreading the hooks apart and permitting oneof the hooks to enter the aperture in the key. It should, of course, beunderstood that when the key is being assembled with or disassembledfrom the key-holder that the key-holder is disassembled from thekeyholder supporting member.

My invention is particularly desirable because a key-holder and its keyor keys may be easily and quickly removed without disturbing any of theothers as for instance when it is desired to loan the key or keys tosomeone. It is also important and desirable because it is easier toassemble the keys with a new case or disassemble them from a worn outone than is possible with a conventional type of hook which has been incommon use and which is so stiff as to make the assembly and disassemblya difiicult task. Last, but not least, the hardware parts, as shown inFig. 2, are usually assembled at the point of manufacture and shipped toa leather goods manufacturer; therefore my improved constructions are sosimple that the cost of the assembly of these parts has beenconsiderably reduced over other well known types of. constructions.

While I have illustrated and described a preferred embodiment of myinvention I do not wish to be limited thereby because the scope thereofis best defined by the following claims.

I claim:

1. A key-holder having a key-carrying portion, a pair of opposed hooksfor engagement with a supporting member, crossed means connecting saidhooks with said key-carrying portion whereby said hooks are spread awayfrom each other when said key-carrying portion is squeezed thereby topermit ready engagement with and disengagement from a key-holdersupporting member, and interlocking means provided as a part of thedevice to prevent relative movement of the hooks at right angles to theplane of the hooks.

2. A key-holder having a key-carrying portion, a pair of opposed hooksfor engagement with a supporting member, crossed means connecting saidhooks with said key-carrying portion whereby said hooks are spread awayfrom each other when said key-carrying portion is squeezed thereby topermit ready engagement with and disengagement from a key-holdersupporting member, one of said hooks having laterally spaced portionsadjacent its free end and the other of said hooks having an end portioninterlocking with said first hook between said spaced portions for thepurpose described.

3. A key-holder having a key-carrying portion, a pair of opposed hooksfor engagement with a supporting member, crossed means connecting saidhooks with said key-carrying portion whereby said hoc-ks are spread awayfrom each other when said key-carrying portion is squeezed thereby topermit ready engagement with and disengagement from a key-holderSupporting member, and one of said hooks having laterally spacedportions adjacent its free end, the other of said hooks having an endportion interlocking with said first hook between said spaced portionsand lying substantially in the plane of said spaced portions. g

4. A key-holder having a key-carrying portion, a pair of opposed hooksfor engagement with a supporting member, interlocking means provided asa part of said key-holder to prevent relative movement of said hooks atright angles to the plane of said hooks While said hooks are relativelymovable in the plane of said hooks for engagement with or disengagementfrom said keyholder supporting member.

5. A key-holder having a key-carrying portion, a pair of opposed hooksfor engagement with a supporting member, interlocking means provided asa part of said key-holder to prevent relative movement of said hooks atright angles to the plane of said hooks while said hooks are relativelymovable in the plane of said hooks for engagement with or disengagementfrom said keyholder supporting member, said interlocking means being inthe form of a forked hook and the other hook shaped to fit into the forkof the forked hook.

6. A key-holder having a key-carrying portion, a pair of opposed hooksfor engagement with a supporting member, interlocking means provided asa part of said key-holder to prevent relative movement of said hooks atright angles to the plane of said hooks while said hooks are relativelymovable in the plane of said hooks for engagement with or disengagementfrom a keyholder supporting member, said locking means being in the formof a forked hook and the other hook shaped to fit into the work of theforked hook, said key-holder being formed from a single piece of springsheet metal whereby said hooks may be moved away from each other whenbeing engaged with or disengagad from said key-holder supporting memberand will spring toward each other upon release thereby to cooperate informing an eye at one end of said holder through which a supportingmember passes.

WALTER I. JONES.

